Birthday Present
by x-Sheeqsee112-x
Summary: It's Gohan's 8th birthday! Too bad the only thing anyone can think about is training for the androids. What's a young half-Saiyan to do? Very mild swearing, but rated T just in case. I re-edited this one because I found a couple of mistakes (one of them was really embarrassing).


**Birthday Present**

**_"BOOM!"_**

**_"SMASH!"_**

**_"KABAAM!"_**

Sounds of destruction could be heard throughout the entire 439 East District mountain area as Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo trained for the upcoming android attack which was only 2 years away. Currently, Goku had his fist planted in Piccolo's stomach while Gohan watched from below.

_'Dad sure is fast'_ he thought, as Goku phased out to smash Piccolo's head and send him to the ground. Luckily, Piccolo gathered his bearings before Goku could send an energy blast at him and managed to push it out of the way, sending his own at the Saiyan which managed to hit its target. Gohan looked at them with longing. If only he was as strong as them! The half-Saiyan tried to follow the two with his eyes but found that it was too difficult. Soon, he found an opening and lunged at the two adults.

"Yah!" he yelled ferociously, swinging his fist at Goku, who saw it coming. Goku caught it and laughed.

"Gohan, you're _way _too slow!" he said, kneeing the child in the stomach. He then proceeded to smash him in the head, sending him roughly into the ground below. Gohan stopped mid-air and lunged at Piccolo this time, receiving the same fate as before.

'He's improving fast, but at this rate he might not be able to get strong enough to fight the androids,' Goku thought, watching Gohan attempt to kick his mentor. 'We'll need to push him harder,' He was jolted out of his thoughts as Gohan landed a vicious uppercut square on Goku's jaw, which didn't hurt much (at least to him). That attack just confirmed his thoughts. But before he could counter attack, Piccolo yelled out.

"That's enough for today!" he yelled, and lowered himself to the ground along with Gohan. Goku was baffled.

"But we need more training! Piccolo, we're not going to be ready for the androids if we only train for 10 hours a day," he argued.

"Shut up, Son! We've been training since 5:00 am, and Gohan could use a break," The two adults glanced at Gohan who was breathing hard, bruises and cuts littering his small body. He looked like he was ready to pass out.

"He could use more training though! I mean, this isn't a good overload for him. Gohan can stand these training condi—"

"He's like 3 years old Goku! Give him a break,"

"But Piccolo—"

"End of discussion,"

Goku frowned. The training ended way too early for his liking. He looked at Gohan who looked back at him, appearing to be half-asleep. Piccolo headed towards the half-Saiyan and picked him up, much to Gohan's chagrin.

"Mr. Piccolo, I can walk, you don't have to pick me up," he complained, squirming in his mentor's arms. Piccolo ignored him and walked towards the Son house. Gohan eventually gave up and rested in the nook of Piccolo's cape, which he materialized minutes before.

"Damn it Piccolo, we're going to be killed!" Goku yelled. Piccolo chose to ignore him. Goku frowned.

"Fine, I'll be out here training if you guys need me," he said, and retreated back into the mountains. Piccolo scoffed.

_'Training. That's all that man can think about. Doesn't look like he can fit his only son into that pea brain of his,'_ he thought, glancing down at Gohan who fell asleep. Piccolo knew that he'd been awake 'till 3:00 am doing his homework, which only gave him 2 hours of sleep. Why his stupid mother gave him so much work was beyond him.

Soon, Piccolo and Gohan reached the Son house, and were greeted by Chichi. She appeared cheery until she saw how bad Gohan looked. Chichi screamed.

"_M-my baby!_ What happened to my baby!" she cried, snatching Gohan from Piccolo's arms. She shook him and planted kisses on his forehead, glaring at Piccolo. Piccolo grimaced.

"I thought you were training him, not beating him senseless! Oh, I hope his IQ didn't lower too much!"

"We need to be as prepared as possible," he replied, hoping Goku's wife wouldn't snap at him again.

"That is no excuse for the two of you to beat him up! Oh, that reminds me, where's Goku?" Chichi asked, hugging Gohan close to her.

"He's—"

"Training, yes. Why do I even ask?" the woman said sorrowfully. She turned around, but before she went inside the house Piccolo stopped her.

"I'll be back for Gohan when he wakes up," he said. Chichi looked at him.

"…..Okay," she finally replied, and shut the door.

* * *

Gohan was in a large city filled with cheerful people. He watched them all laugh and talk with one another, enjoying life. There were kids playing in the park, families eating ice-cream, couples taking a stroll…..it was a day of peace. He looked around longingly.

_'No one realizes how lucky they are. None of them know about the androids. None of them have to train 24 hours a day. It seems ignorance really is bliss,' _he thought to himself sadly. He looked up at the sky and sighed.

His thoughts were interrupted when suddenly a large explosion reverberated through the city. Buildings collapsed around him and people screamed, running for their lives. Laughter echoed around him.

_That could only mean….._

"N-no, not now! It's too soon!" Gohan cried in horror.

The androids were here.

Suddenly, before he could blink, it was raining. The androids stood in front of him, their faces blackened by shadow. Around him were the broken bodies of all his friends, blood covering him and the area. The androids laughed as they held up Krillin and snapped his neck, barely giving him time to scream, and threw him to the ground along with what remained of his father.

"**_N-NO! KRILLIN! FATHER!_**" he screamed. Gohan was petrified as he looked around the area to everyone else. Tienshinhan and Yamcha lay on top on one another, missing limbs. The only sign of Chiaotzu was his blood-covered hat. Piccolo's mangled arm stuck out from under a pile of rocks. Even Vegeta was down, his legs and right arm bending the wrong way. Gohan was so shocked he couldn't even scream anymore.

"What a weakling. You couldn't even save your friends. Don't worry; you'll be joining them soon," cackled one of the androids.

_If only I was stronger….._

"Earth's greatest heroes? What a joke that turned out to be," said the other.

_If only I was stronger….._

"Say your prayers, you weakling, 'cause your time has come," laughed the first.

**_If only I was STRONGER!_**

"Augh!" Gohan cried, jolting upright in his bed. He panted, tears streaming down his face.

'_It was just a dream….._' he thought, leaning back in bed. He reflected on his nightmare and grabbed a fistful of his hair, sighing in exasperation. It was his fifth nightmare of the week. Every since the training began, he'd been having more of them. His thoughts drifted to the training of that morning.

'_This morning's training was tough_,' he thought. '_Damn, dad and Piccolo are so strong…..at this rate I'll never catch up to them. And to make my day worse, dad, mom, and Piccolo all forgot my birthday….._' he turned and faced the wall, hugging his blankets close, and glanced at the time.

'_6:00 pm…..whoa, I've been out for a while. I'd be lucky if they remembered at all. Why wait so long just to wish me happy birthday? I don't think they remembered. They missed my 5__th__, 6__th__, and 7__th__ birthday as well. Well, excluding Piccolo,_' Gohan smiled slightly. Every year, even if Piccolo didn't flat out say it, he'd always give Gohan a sign at the beginning of the day that he'd remembered. It was enough for Gohan. But this year it seems Piccolo was too busy with his training that he'd forgot. Gohan frowned.

'_Training, training, training, that's all anyone can think about,_' he thought.

Deciding that five minutes of sulking was enough, the half-Saiyan got up and changed out of his clothes. Once changed, he ran down the stairs and called out to his mother.

"I'm heading out!" he yelled, and when his mother approved, he took flight.

* * *

Piccolo was meditating by his waterfall as usual, clearing his mind of any thoughts of the androids, any thoughts of training, any thoughts of Goku and Gohan, and focusing on the relaxing sound of the waterfall. His deep meditation was interrupted when Goku noisily landed beside him.

"Hey, Pic!" He called out, earning a grimace from said Namekian.

"Damn it Son, you know I hate it when you call me that," he grumbled, opening an eye.

"Yeah, whatever," Goku said, folding his hands behind his head and sticking out his tongue. He then put his hands down and looked at Piccolo with a serious expression. "We need to talk,"

"If you think you can just barge here and interrupt my meditation then you're dead wrong. Get out of here," Piccolo said angrily, returning to his meditation.

"It's about Gohan,"

Piccolo got up from his lotus position, sighing. "Okay, I'm listening. Get on with it,"

Goku met Piccolo's eyes. "We're getting closer and closer to the android attack every day, Piccolo, and I don't think Gohan is going to be ready. I mean, we both heard what Trunks said about him surviving, but a lot of things have changed already. What if he doesn't survive this time?"

"Do you not have faith in your own son?" The Namekian argued.

"It's not that I don't have faith in him…..we're both stronger than him and we're both improving fast. Gohan doesn't seem to be catching up with us at the rate that I thought he would,"

"Gohan is plenty ready. He needs to be working on controlling his emotions, not building up his muscles,"

"I don't want him to die!"

"He's not going to die!"

"Well, whatever you say, I'm going to be training him hard once we restart our training today,"

Piccolo grunted, and got ready to counter-argue, when Goku took off.

'_What a child,_' he thought, but before he continued meditating, he did a quick check to see if Gohan was awake. When he felt his energy heading towards the city, he smirked and continued his meditation.

'_Just wait a bit Gohan. Be patient,_'

* * *

Gohan landed in the midst of the bustling city, thankfully ignored by the passersby (although some sent him strange looks). He recalled his dream about the androids and shuddered.

'_No, it was only a dream. I can't let it get to me. Shake it off, Gohan,_' he thought to himself. Even so, he wasn't about to let down his guard, and kept his senses open for any danger nonetheless.

The half-Saiyan walked around for a bit, enjoying the sights. Finally, he found what he was looking for.

'_Time for some birthday treats!' _he thought, as he entered the bakery.

Gohan was greeted with the wonderful smell of bread, cakes, and pastries. It was a sweet smell that warmed his tummy. He gazed at the assortment of pastries.

'_If mother, father, and Piccolo won't bother celebrating my 8__th__ birthday, then I'll just buy myself some pastries and celebrate by myself,_' he thought stubbornly, trying to decide between the steamed buns and the chocolate brownies. He settled on both, and bought some pumpkin bread as well to share with everyone. Satisfied with his purchases, he strolled towards a nearby park and settled on a bench beside a huge tree. Gohan opened the bag of pastries and took a huge bite out of a steamed bun. Birds landed beside his park bench, and he tossed them some brownie crumbs.

'_Happy birthday to me,_" he thought quite dejectedly, as he took another bite of his pastry.

* * *

Goku tapped his foot impatiently. He was by the mountains with Piccolo, and they were awaiting the arrival of Gohan.

"Why is he spending so much time at the city? Doesn't he know he needs to train?" spat Goku, frustrated with waiting.

"Patience, Son. Feel his energy; he's heading towards us as we speak," Piccolo replied calmly. Just as he said, moments later, Gohan tapped down.

"Hey guys, what's up? I'm ready to train," he said happily, his earlier sulking now pushed to the back of his head.

"You're late son. You know that you have training to do," Goku scolded. Gohan hung his head.

"S-sorry father, I needed a break,"

"Do you think the androids are going to give you breaks in between fights?"

"Well no, but—"

"From now on I want you to be on time for your training sessions. Now it's time to train!"

"Ah, okay!"

Piccolo watched Goku scold his son and scowled. Goku really couldn't think of anything else besides training. But Piccolo couldn't lie; he'd been itching for a fight ever since Goku interrupted his meditation. At least now he had an excuse to beat the guy senseless.

A punch to his cheek brought him back to reality, and he gladly returned an equally strong kick back at the offender, which turned out to be none other than Goku. The kick met its mark, and the two adults flew in the air, unleashing blow after blow on one another. Gohan occasionally threw in a punch or two and managed to keep pace, that is until Goku decided it would be fun to kick it up a notch and go Super Saiyan on him. From that point on, it was clear that the young half-breed was outclassed. Goku was viciously landing attacks on the poor kid, not even giving him time to counter-attack. Piccolo tried to intervene but was rudely rejected by a punch to the gut from Goku. Clearly, the Super Saiyan didn't want Piccolo to interrupt his 'training' with his son. Piccolo growled.

'_He finds pleasure in beating up his own son!_' he thought, but didn't intervene again.

* * *

Time passed quickly, and soon the sun set and the sky darkened. The three warriors ceased their training, deciding to call it a day. Goku powered down from Super Saiyan and yawned.

"Well, let's head home!" he said cheerily. Piccolo materialized his cape and looked at Goku.

"You can leave; me and Gohan will stay for a bit longer," he said.

"I see…..getting in some extra training?" Goku winked. When Piccolo ignored him, he frowned and flew off for home. The Namekian looked at Gohan.

'_Kid sure is a mess,_' he thought, and winced. Gohan was covered in cuts and bruises. His right arm was so badly damaged that Piccolo couldn't tell if it was broken or mangled. He had a huge slash running down his cheek, and was panting hard. It looked like he just fought twenty androids.

'_At this rate he'll be dead before they even arrive,_" thought Piccolo grimly. He walked over to Gohan and caught him just before he passed out. The Namekian took a senzu bean out of his sash and put it in Gohan's mouth.

'_Come on, chew!_' he thought, as Gohan slowly chewed the bean. Once healed, his eyes shot open and he got up from Piccolo's arms.

"W-where am I?" he said worriedly. When his eyes focused and he saw Piccolo, he relaxed.

"Oh, hi Mr. Piccolo!" he said cheerily.

"Hey kiddo. Looks like your father gave you quite the training session today. Why don't we rest by my waterfall for a bit?" he suggested. Gohan readily agreed, and the two took off to Piccolo's favourite meditation spot. Once they arrived, they rested for a bit, reflecting on their days.

'_What's wrong with father? He was fighting me like I was Frieza or something. Damn, that hurt. And it seems like Piccolo doesn't care much either. What a birthday this turned out to be,_' Gohan thought sadly. He glanced at Piccolo who was lost deep in meditation. '_I'll bet he won't even notice if I leave right now. Man, I just want to crawl into bed and be over with today,_'

Meanwhile, Piccolo was thinking other thoughts.

'_Gohan trained hard today, even if Son wasn't being fair. He's acting like nothing happened, but I can sense that Gohan's not feeling great. Time to brighten up his day,_' Piccolo thought, smirking.

Gohan got up to leave, but before he could fly off Piccolo stopped him.

"Leaving so soon?" he accused. Gohan turned around and flashed him a smile, which looked forced.

"Just feeling a bit tired!" he quickly replied.

"Well, you can't leave without this," Piccolo said, and got up from his meditative state. He walked towards a rock and pulled something from behind it, before walking back to Gohan and placing it in his arms.

"Happy 8th birthday Gohan," he said, and smiled.

It was his old sword.

Gohan stared at it, dumbfounded.

"Wha—?" he managed, tears forming in his eyes.

"It's your old sword, from the year you stayed with me to train for the Saiyans. I found it in the battlefield not too long ago," said Piccolo.

"It's…..it's…..gosh, I didn't think you'd remembered my birthday…..it's so thoughtful….." said Gohan, hurriedly wiping away the few tears that escaped. He hugged the sword to his chest.

"I can't thank you enough Piccolo; you don't know what this means to me. I just….." he looked down, letting the tears fall freely. He threw the sword to the ground and wrapped his small yet strong arms around Piccolo's waist. Piccolo, taken aback by the sudden action, awkwardly hugged back. They both stood there for a while, Piccolo standing quietly and Gohan sobbing out all his locked up emotions of that day. Soon, he let go, wiped his tears away, and picked up his sword.

"Thanks again Mr. Piccolo. I love it," he said, smiling.

"Anytime, kid," Piccolo replied.

Gohan waved at Piccolo one last time and took off for home, his once bitter mood now gone and happiness filling its place.

'_He remembered! He __**remembered**__!_' he wanted to shout. He waved his sword around in the air, remembering all the times he used it and falling into a mood of nostalgia.

'_I really miss those days,_' he thought, and smiled.

Meanwhile, Piccolo looked at the sky, back in his meditative position.

'_What a kid,_' he thought, and gazed at the stars, reflecting on the past and thinking about the future and what was to come. He knew Gohan was ready to fight the androids and he'd be damned if the young half-breed was hurt.

'_I died for you once Gohan, and if you ever find yourself in a situation like that again, I hope you know that I'd do it all over again,_'

**The End.**


End file.
